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The effects of cadmium pulse dosing on physiological traits and growth of the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spinulosa and phytoplankton biomass: a mesocosm study

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Abstract

Pulse inputs of heavy metals are expected to increase with a higher frequency of extreme climate events (heavy rain), leading to stronger erosion of contaminated and fertilized farmland soils to freshwaters, with potentially adverse effects on lake ecosystems. We conducted a 5-month mesocosm study to elucidate the responses of the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spinulosa and phytoplankton to four different doses of cadmium (Cd): 0 (control), 0.05, 0.5, and 5 g m−2 (CK, I, II, and III, respectively) under mesotrophic conditions. We found that total phosphorus concentrations were larger in the three Cd pulse treatments, whereas total nitrogen concentrations did not differ among the four treatments. The contents of chlorophyll a and soluble sugar in macrophyte leaves decreased in III, and total biomass, ramet number, plant height, and total stolon length of macrophytes were lower in both II and III. In contrast, abundances of the three main phytoplankton taxa—Cyanophyta, Chlorophyta, and Bacillariophyta—did not differ among treatments. Total phytoplankton biomass was, however, marginally lower in CK than in the Cd treatments. We conclude that exposure to strong Cd pulses led to significantly reduced growth of macrophytes, while no obvious effect appeared for phytoplankton.

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Acknowledgements

This study was supported by the National Natural Science Foundation of China (31601824, 51379133), CRES (Danish Strategic Research Council), CLEAR (a Villum Kann Rasmussen Centre of Excellence project), and the MARS project (Managing Aquatic ecosystems and water Resources under multiple Stress) funded under the 7th EU Framework Programme, Theme 6 (Environment including Climate Change), Contract No.: 603378 (http://www.mars-project.eu). We thank Anne Mette Poulsen for valuable editorial comments.

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Key Laboratory of Ecological Impacts of Hydraulic-Projects and Restoration of Aquatic Ecosystem of Ministry of Water Resources, Institute of Hydroecology, Ministry of Water Resources, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430079, China

    Hui Liu

  2. Key Laboratory of Aquatic Botany and Watershed Ecology, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, Hubei, 430074, China

    Hui Liu, Yu Cao & Wei Wang

  3. Hubei Key Laboratory of Wetland Evolution & Ecological Restoration, Wuhan Botanical Garden, Chinese Academy of Sciences, Wuhan, 430074, China

    Yu Cao, Wei Li & Wei Wang

  4. Sino-Danish Centre for Education and Research (SDC), Beijing, China

    Wei Li & Erik Jeppesen

  5. Xi’an Botanical Garden of Shaanxi Province, Institute of Botany of Shaanxi Province, Xi’an, Shaanxi, 710061, China

    Zhao Zhang

  6. Lake Ecology Section, Department of Bioscience, Aarhus University, 8600, Silkeborg, Denmark

    Erik Jeppesen

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  1. Hui Liu
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Correspondence to Wei Wang.

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Responsible editor: Elena Maestri

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Liu, H., Cao, Y., Li, W. et al. The effects of cadmium pulse dosing on physiological traits and growth of the submerged macrophyte Vallisneria spinulosa and phytoplankton biomass: a mesocosm study. Environ Sci Pollut Res 24, 15308–15314 (2017). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11356-017-9155-6

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